Line Boring in the field

Hello All.
There was a thread about line boring a while ago and I thought I would add my .02$ in.I work for a Caterpillar dealer in Atlanta Ga. and have for 15 years.I have been a machinists since high school.I have been doing the line boring and welding in the field for about 14 years.Hopefully these pictures will come thru.The second set was on a rock crusher and the main hole was 14.748-14.754".I was using a 2" bar.The other pictures were on a steel press at a recycling yard and was boring them out to 6.00" for a bearing. I hope you enjoy these. I have some more if you would be interested.

Thank you
Randy

line boring

Hello Randy
Thank you for sharing your project pictures with all viewers.I am not familiar with the make of boring machine you have.I have a couple of questions,is this a factory rig and how do you control the feed with this machine.I was looking at building a similar style machine but I was not comfortable with the feed flow design I had in mind.
More pictures will be nice.Thank you.

Ray

Line boring in the field can be a real bugger can't it. That's some nice shots of your setups.

My machine

My machine was made by Caterpillar and is run off the pto of my truck.The feed uses a backpressure system to have head pressure with push pressure.I will send some more pictures and hopefully some of the controll unit.My machine can take .250 off cach side with no problem.It throws chips everywhere. Thanks for your interest

Randy

Nice pictures. Thank you for posting them. I had worked for a place for about a year where we used a portable boring / line boring machine for machine work out in the field. I believe the brand name was Climax and it was hydraulicly operated from a power pack that was 480V 3ph. We used brazed cemented carbide lathe tool bits for cutting with different feeds set up kind of like a Wohlhaupter boring and facing head. It worked pretty good. I also have made adapter plates using self-aligning bearings and a home made bar to use with my Storm portable boring bar, which is 110V 1ph which works out well also, on various pieces of construction equipment This is interesting work.

line boring

Nice rig. Years ago the shop I worked for had a rig they used on coal mining equipment. That set up used a 4 speed transmission from a car to drive the bar. An electric motor with belts and pullyes powered the transmision. Questions: Is your bar made from tool steel or mild steel? I would also like to know how do you weld up the bores? Are you using a stick welder or do you have a bore welder ( mig gun with a rotating head)? Thanks.
Brock

more info

My bars are Thompson shafts that are broached out to take a 1/2
' tool holder.I have a I.D. welded that is made overseas that is ..or was sold thru caterpillar.It was very easy to operate and setup and worked VERY well.Now all we can get is a bortec welded and I am not much of a fan.maybe I I just like the old I.D. welder.I have some pictures of my machine boring off the end of the bar and I will post them.

Randy

Interested in more pic's

Would like more pics with a little explanation, if you have the time.

Thanks the pics are interesting.

Randy
What are Thompson shafts that you use.I am not familiar with this item.What diameter of bar do you run.

Ray

bars

I have a 3' 4' 6' and an 8' 2.00" dia bar and also a 4-6-8' 1 1/2" bar...alot of numbers all together.I will try to post more pics tomorrow.I have to resize them first.

Randy

Bortech Welder

What do you not like about the Bortech welder?Which model are you using?We are looking at buying one and would like to know if there are problems with them before we go any further.Thanks David

line boring

David, what are you welding with now? If stick weld, How long does it take to weld a bore? What are your bars made of? I am thinking of putting together a rig for local use. Apreciate any feedback.
Brock

line boring and welding

We do them with stick or mig,its time consuming and depending on who does it the quality varies.Our bars are 1.937 all of our stuff is shop built,we have been working on building our own bore welder,but also looking at the Bortech.We are going to probably go ahead and get our own working and then see how it works out.David

I can speak with some honesty on this subject,I have been line boring
mining equipment and such for 24 years in southeast B.C and Alberta.

This job is quite "interesting" which is a euphemism for incredibly ,
positively wretched.

All kinds of weather conditions,long bullshit hours,driving in blinding
snowstorms,all this and more.It is challenging,I admit, to do good work
under these conditions ,some satisfaction is to be gained.

This work will break your back, and totally suck your will to live.
You will come to question the decision to become a machinist
at all.

I am sure the only joy in line boring comes from employing others to do
it .Cashing the cheque is the only nice part.

To be sure crawling under and climbing over and slithering with heavy items,
setting up to bore some indifferent welders "build up" will frustrate you.

As a matter of fact building up a bore takes quite a bit of skill and
technique on the part of the welder,not just ANY one can do it well.

Sorry to describe a job which you seem you like ,in these negative tones,
I am totally burnt out on it ,plus I limp more days than not now ,not even 50
years old.

Kevin, it sounds like you need to triple what you charge, and then spend the increase on things that make you happy. The higher charges should bring you more time to enjoy the money, and if it doesn't raise them again.

You may still end up old, worn out, and grumpy, but that is better than old, worn out, grumpy, and broke.

Randy, I vote for more pics.

What first struck me and still intrigues me is the apparent flimsyness of the set ups.

Coming from the experience of really locking down everything for machining bores and then to see what you accomplish, single pointing a bore consisting of welded lumps, to a .250 depth of cut with the boring bar bearings supported with 3 tacked on pieces of scrap angle iron*, is amazing to me! Does what ever rod or wire you are using cool to nice soft iron with no hard spots? I so, I want the name of it.
*Compromised tack welds at that, steel to iron.

One thing that is obvious from the photos, the machined part ain't goin' anywhere!

I'm curious about the set-up too. A 1-1/2" X 8' bar has to be interesting to align through several bores while laying in the mud. What do you use for reference points?

Thanks, Bob

worn out

Thanks Kevin for your vote of support in the way I feel.I have done it a long time and I agree with the long Bull$hit hours.They customers think you can take apart the machine,cut the broke up bearings,clean everything,grind the bores,make your setups,weld 2- 6" dia by 8" long bores then machine them and put the machine back together in a couple of hours. Alot of our work in the quarrys are get it on Friday night and it better be running on Monday morning as they are telling you this on Thursday afternoon.

The work is hard and back breaking but nobody sees that ,they only come by to check on you when you are watching it weld the bores.They also say ..I need a job where all you have to do is watch it weld...

The setups are VERY rigid if done right.You have to keep in mind simple engineering principals.Triangles are your friend. I will post more pics shortly that will show more setups.

Thanks for the interest
Randy

picture

Here is one I found that is cool.I am welding the bore of a bucket on a 988 wheel loader

More shortly

I have to be honest with my experiences,the job is a soul sucking grind.
It is as you say too,they will come by when you're cutting and see you sitting
and then piss and moan about how they need a job where there is a lot of sitting.

Never mind the average miner is only concerned with how to prolong their breaks
and bullshit sessions.If the're work is not done ...oh well, the next guy can do it,
as a contractor I am also that "next guy" usually under the gun to perform as well.

Our Company and myself have done well over the years providing this service
and many others,but the truth is I have reached my saturation point.

I still do it from time to time of course, but not in the field as often anymore.
I'm happy with that too.I have some (lower) middle management hats to wear occasionally,
also with the economy as it is there are fewer call outs.

We are still busy though so it's not too bad.As was mentioned earlier CLIMAX is a
very well engineered portable machine tool.Our bar is 2 1/4 dia. much more rigid.

As a previous poster mentioned that "I" should raise my rate,that is not under my control
since as a company we still have to be competitive.I am glad to see I am not alone in
my opinions,machining,and metalwork in general is a good trade.Lineboring itself sucks
ass in many ways.

I did persue this field from a young age,but I am feeling used and abused at age 49.
My impression of many on this board is that they are more "hobby" home shop guy's
with a kind of romantic outlook on the trade.The real world of production,deadlines,
and repetitive products has given me reason to question this path.

As hard as I've worked for the last 30 years, I feel I need another 30 years before I
can retire.I certainly can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet.I also understand
very well that ownership of a company is no picnic at all, although financially you can do
well,the fact is your employees depend on the work coming in.Every one busts their ass.

Thats all for now as the original post has taken a back seat to my ...angst, sorry about
that.
the world of production